DOGS DAILY: Coyle Burns Beaulieu

Charlie Coyle got the better of Nathan Beaulieu last night.

Coyle’s goal at 4:55 of the third period – a goal that saw the forward fly past his former Sea Dogs teammate – proved to be the game winner in the Minnesota Wild’s 2-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens.

Here’s video, via theScore:

Coyle, the game’s second star who finished the game with one goal, three shots and three hits in 16:20 of ice time, now has eight goals and nine assists in 33 games this season with the Wild. The 23-year-old forward has two goals and an assist in his past two games.

Meanwhile, Beaulieu finished fourth on the Habs in ice time last time. Montreal enters the Christmas break on a five-game losing streak.

"We deserve better," Beaulieu told NHL.com. "We've had some bad games along this stretch but we've played some good hockey, especially tonight. Good goaltender, [defense] played well, forwards were playing our system. I know we keep saying, 'It was just one of those nights,' but we played a good hockey game tonight."

In other news…

• Thomas Chabot and Team Canada defeated Sweden 7-6 in their final pre-tournament game today. Canada was up 5-1 after two but a wild, penalty filled third period allowed Sweden to get back into it. According to TSN’s stats, Chabot assisted on Jake Virtanen’s second period power play goal.
• The world juniors begin on Boxing Day with Chabot and Jakub Zboril both in action. At 8 a.m., Zboril and the Czech Republic take on Russia. Then at 2 p.m., Chabot and Team Canada face the United States. All games are on TSN.
• There was another NHL game last night that featured former Sea Dogs going head-to-head. Jonathan Huberdeau was held pointless but registered six shots and was named third star in the Florida Panthers’ 2-1 shootout victory over Mike Hoffman and the Ottawa Senators.
• Future Considerations has recapped the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge. On Joe Veleno: “From what he has shown us to date we like him to battle for the top spot in 2018.”
• Speaking of Coyle, the Boston Globe has an article on another player leaving Boston University for the QMJHL – this time its AJ Greer joining the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. Sadly, Jack Parker was not asked for comment.
• Moncton’s Conor Garland, who has a completely ridiculous 80 points in 33 games this season, has signed an entry-level deal with the Arizona Coyotes.
• John Moore has a video on Sea Dogs forward Matt Green and his recovery from an elbow injury. Green, who hasn’t played since Oct. 25, has one goal and three assists in 16 games this year, nearly matching his point total from all of last season.

Photo: Marc Henwood/Station Nation